The board of directors of StatoilHydro will propose to the company’s Annual General Meeting on 19 May that the company name be changed to Statoil ASA.
On 27 February this year, the board of directors received a letter from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy which stated that “the Norwegian State at the Annual General Meeting will only vote for proposals which include the name Statoil, either alone or as the dominating part of a new name”.
”The question of the company’s name is to be decided by the owners at the Annual General Meeting,” said Svein Rennemo, chair of the StatoilHydro board. “The board, on their part, will not submit any other proposals at the Annual General Meeting than what we can expect to be adopted. The proposal we are now presenting is in line with the views on the name issue which the company’s main owner, the Norwegian State, has expressed in its letter,” he said.
The board also proposes to change the company’s objects clause to include other types of energy than petroleum. This will reflect the company’s strategic focus on a gradual increase in the development of renewable energy sources.
The decision on a new company name and objects clause will be made by StatoilHydro’s Annual General Meeting in Stavanger on 19 May. The name change and the company’s new profile are planned to be implemented on 1 November 2009.